This controversy follows the July 1st arrest of four other officers accused of accepting stolen property and extortion. City leaders will not say if the incidents are connected.

The officers involved are Sergeant Billy Arp, Sergeant Marty McCoy, Officer Darius Hudgins and Training Specialist Robert Treadaway. Between them, the four men have nearly 40 years experience on the force.

The suspensions disabled the city's task force team, an elite group assembled for drug and undercover projects. Half of the eight member team is now out of action, forcing Chief Joe Brown to temporarily disband the group.

Brown said that he has plenty of other officers who can handle the work until the investigation is complete.

"We have certain periods of the day that we have an overlap of shifts," Brown said. "That's when we do a lot of our special things, when we do have that overlap because the extra manpower's available. And we can be very flexible in certain hours of the day and week."

Despite eight officers being off the job at the same time, city leaders say they are confident Rocky Mount Police are doing a good job. Right now, there is no plan for an internal investigation into the department.

"This is a little bump in the road that we've hit but we still have police work to do," Asst. City Manager Charles Penny said. "We're confident that our department's going to take care of those things."

The investigation determines the next course of action. If there is any evidence of wrongdoing, the four officers could be charged. If not, they will be brought back to work, and given back pay.

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Brian Bowman

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